Reading Program: 20 Books

Our Goal

Our goal at GGCA is to create life-long readers. This program requires that every student reads 20 books throughout the year. Students will have the opportunity to experience a large variety of genres and writing styles. Through this program, reading is established as part of the classroom culture. Students are required to have their outside reading book in every class. They are also expected to read during a lull in the class, such as finishing a test early.

Many of these books are books of their choice. They may be borrowed from our high school library, your local library, or brought from home. We ask that parents monitor the content of books borrowed from outside of our library If a student is reading a book that their parents allow, but we do not allow in our library, we ask that the student not bring that book to school with them. Students may also be required to choose books from a teacher appointed genre. These books are considered outside reading, or reading the does not directly relate to class, yet students will be held responsible for continuing to read.

Reading Journal Entries

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-Reading journal entries consist answering a journal prompt in at least 5 sentences. -Reading Journals are due in class every Thursday.-You must have at least 5 journal entries by Thursday to get full credit. -The questions you choose must come from 5 seperate topics (i.e. character, foreshadowing, title, plot, ect.).

Alternative Book Reports: Extra Credit

Alternative book reports are creative projects that require students to really to get creatively engaged in the book's plot and characters. They allow students to creatively demonstrate their understanding of the book. These reports also serve a s creative outlet for students to express their interpretations and opinions of the books that they read. - Alternative book reports will be completed using the student's outside reading book. - One alternative book report will be required each quarter. - Students may only do an option once.

Alternative Book Report Example:

Alternative Book Report Options:

From:

Carter, Candy, and Zora Rashkis, Eds. Ideas for Teaching English in the Junior High and

Middle School. National Council of Teachers of English. Urbana, IL: 1980.

Design an advertising campaign to promote the sale of the book you read. Include each of the following in your campaign: a poster, a radio or TV commercial, a magazine or newspaper ad, a bumper sticker, and a button.

Write a scene that could have happened in the book you read, but didn’t. After you have written the scene, explain how it would have changed the outcome of the book.

Create a board game based on events and characters in the novel you read. By playing your game, members of the class should learn what happened in the book. Your game must include the following: a board game, a rule sheet and clear directions, and events and characters from the story on cards or on a game board.

Make models of three objects which are important in the book you read. On a card attached to each model, tell why the object was important in the book.

If the book you read involves a number of locations within a country or geographical area, plot the events of the story on a map. Make sure the map is large enough for us to read the main events clearly. Attach a legend to your map. Write a paragraph that explains the importance of each even indicated on your map.

Complete a series of five drawings that show five of the major events in the plot. Write captions for each drawing so that the illustration can be understood by someone who did not read the book. Variation: Create a comic strip of your novel.

You are a prosecuting attorney putting one of the characters from the book you read on trial for a crime or misdeed. Prepare your case on paper, giving all your arguments and supporting them with facts from the book.

Adapt the prosecuting attorney activity outlined about to a dual-role project: in one role, present the prosecuting case, and in the other, present the case for the defense. If a classmate has read the same book, you might make this a two-person project.

Write a copy for a newspaper front page that is devoted entirely to the book you read. The front page should look like a real newspaper. The articles on the front page should be based on events and characters in the book.

Retell the plot of the book you read as it might appear in a third grade reading book. Be sure the vocabulary you use is appropriate for that age group. Record your story telling.

Write three poems in response to the novel. The poems can be about the characters, where the book took place, or the themes in the book.

Choose a character you liked and then create sentences based on the alphabet scheme that demonstrates you knowledge of the character. For example, this alphabet is based on Zeke from Spite Fences: A) is for ABUSE that Zeke took at the hands of the racist mob. B) is for his BENDING OVER BACKWARDS to make sure the visiting civil rights activists could work in obscurity.

Create a picture book based on the book.

Write a beginning for a sequel for the book you read. Outline what would happen in the rest of the book.

Gather a large collection of current events that reflect incidents that closely parallel those in your novel.

Rewrite a novel as a play. You may abridge and condense, or you may choose 1-2 important scenes to rewrite. It would be helpful if you can convince a group to help you perform (acting or reader’s theater).

Has your book ever been on a banned book list? If so, research to find out why. Write a position statement, stating why you think the book should or should not be banned.

Collect sentences from your novel. As you are reading, be watching for sentences which have an effect on you for one reason or another. Maybe it is just a sentence they you really, really like. Or maybe it is a sentence that says something just the way it should be said. Write it into a sentence journal. After the sentence, jot down the title of the novel from which it came and the page number. Then briefly tell why you have included this sentence in your journal. You should have at least 20 sentences.

Select a chapter from the novel you have just read that you consider to be powerful or interesting. Then select words, lines, and phrases that you think project strong images and show the impact the chapter makes. Arrange this material into a poem. The following example comes from Chapter Twenty in Spite Fences by Trudy Krisher: Violence at the Lunch Counter Sit-in Fist Slammed into George Hardy’s face/ Glasses slid to his chin/ Shattered into a spider’s web./ River of red blood/ Running from his nose./ It was the red color of the fence/ The red color of the earth/ on which I stood/ It was red/ The color of my life this summer/ The color of Kinship.

Convert the events of the book into a song. Write the lyrics and music or adapt words to a melody by someone else.

Imagine that you are the author of the book you have just read. Suddenly the book becomes a best seller. Write a letter to a movie producer trying to get that person interested in making your book into a movie. Explain why the story, characters, conflicts, etc., would make a good film. Suggest a filming location and the actors to play the various roles. YOU MAY ONLY USE BOOKS WHICH HAVE NOT ALREADY BEEN MADE INTO MOVIES.

Pick a national issue. Compose a speech to be given on that topic by one of the major characters in the book you read. Be sure the contents of the speech reflect the character’s personality and beliefs.